Just got back from my big final mixing session. This is where I've deviated the most from the Production Bible as Commandment IX is to leave the mix for someone else to do.
“I usually pass the task of creating final mixes off to other people because by that point, I can’t see a whiff of the trees.” (Gallant)
However, it wouldn't be much of a Studio Skills project if I didn't try to mix the damn thing myself, so I did. Over the years that I've been involved in studio work, I've often felt like mixing is where I have the most trouble. It's easy for me to get lost among individual elements and lose sight of the whole. Luckily, however, we've had some great guest speakers this semester, several of which have addressed mixing at length. I've tried to incorporate their advice. I borrowed from Phil Harding's go-to boost frequencies and panned background vocals the way he suggested. I made sure to ignore guitar buzz and breaths and such per Ken Scott's advice. As Richard Formby suggested, I focused on the lead vocal, the beat, and the bass at the expense of everything else. I really went for a layered approach, with certain elements up front and some more felt than heard.
Here is where the mix is currently at:
As I mentioned in my previous post, I made sure to crunch up the drums with some tape saturation. Here they are by themselves:
And here's the plug-in responsible for this crunchy goodness. I also used it on some of the background vocals and on the lead guitar.
The last stage of this whole process will be getting some feedback on the final mix and creating a second version if necessary. Either way, I hope my big drums, big pads, and ethereal vocals would do Mr. Epworth proud.
Once the drums and vocals were tracked, the next step was to flesh out the arrangement. As in all aspects of this project, I looked to Epworth for inspiration.
Now, I think it's important to point out that a good producer doesn't necessarily have a "sound." If they're going to work with different artists they need to adapt to the sound of those artists. Epworth himself has said of his own work:
"I feel that my work is one part acoustic recording, one part electronic dance music production, and then the rest of it is basically formed by the artist I’m working with, including his or her influences and the records that have shaped his or her style. I always find that I try to hone in on something that’s specific to the sound of the individual artist, and I’ve always tried not to have a specific sound myself." (Gallant)
So what are those acoustic and electronic elements he's talking about? Obviously, they'll vary from track to track. However, after analyzing some of my favorite tracks that Epworth has produced I was able to identify some commonalities.
First: Big, crunchy drums. Listen to the distorted hugeness on this record:
I made a mental note to try some moderate tape saturation and distortion on the drums when I got to the mixing stage. I also noticed a subtle electronic loop enhacning the groove on that Florence track, so I added one to my song:
Epowrth has also layered some big percussive elements with his drums here. You can also hear this in "Rolling in the Deep."
Epworth has publicly explained several times how he got that stomping sound. He recommends going for creating your own samples rather loading up a preset.
"It’s very easy to go, ‘let’s find a sample of that,’ and it’s just as easy to record it. And ultimately you end up with a bit noise on it that gives something feeling." (BBC)
"Most of the kick drum (on Rolling in the Deep) was a multi-sample — I have this little wooden step in my studio which is hollow and has cables running underneath it, and we miked Adele stomping on it. We wanted it to sound like the stomps they used to do in the glam rock days when they tied pieces of wood to their feet. We really wanted the sound of people jumping and dancing to the record. So the closest we could get at the time was having Adele stamp on a step. The actual kick drum was a big marching drum strapped to the front of my kit, so it’s actually a 30-inch kick that we miked up. Most of what you hear, though, is multi-tracked Adele stamping on that step." (Gallant)
So, I tried something similar. I had my friend Hari and myself stomp around in the studio.
Had I not been pressed for time, I would have tried some different mics, different shoes, and different surfaces. But, in the time allotted, this is the sound we got:
The other connective element I was able to discern across Epworth's tracks is his approach to vocal pads. He likes to add subtle vocal layers for ambience. They're very present in the Florence track above, but they're even more noticeable here:
Guitars, bass, and drums--those are all straight U2 through and through. But those ghostly howls in the intro and throughout--to me that's a signature Epworth contribution. So, for my track I added a healthy number of layers of my own ghostly howling.
Next, I did some virtual strings and a couple more guitar layers, just filling things out. I left bass for last in accordance with commandment VII of my Epworth Production Bible. Turns out I did find that I had a much better idea of what space was left for the bass to fill than I would normally. I won't always do it this way in my own work because I'm a fan of tracks that revolve around the bass line. But it was a helpful exercise, to be sure.
As I mentioned in my proposal, auditioning mics and honing the vocal sound is an important part of Epworth's approach to vocals. The artist I had originally intended to write with (James Ashcroft) was gracious enough to sing on my track and the first thing we did when he arrived at the studio was test him out on three different microphones to see which one captured the best character from his vocal.
Here are the mics we tried out:
From left to right: The Neumann U87, the AKG 414, and the Shure SM7B.
The SM7 differed the most out of the three and was immediately thrown out. Neither James nor I could really pick out any obvious differences between the sound of the 414 and the U87 so James arbitrarily picked one: the 414. From there, we were ready to track the vocal.
When placing mics on the kit, I made sure to follow commandment #3 (at least at first). I used a pair of Beyer M160s for overheads, following Ken Scott's suggestion of only using ribbons as overheads to soften and warm the strident quality of cymbals captured on condensers. I placed an AKG414 on the snare and an AT4022 pencil on the hi hat. I used AT4050s on the toms, which I was skeptical of at first, but they gave me the best tom sound I've ever captured. The rack tom mic got a lot of bleed at first from the crash cymbal, but switching it to figure-8 reduced this significantly.
Audio Technica AT4050s on toms
The kick is where I ran into real problems. I started out with the Audio Technica ATM250de, a dual-element microphone that has both dynamic and condenser capsules housed inside of it. I placed it inside the kick and turned up the faders to hear a bouncy, basketball-type sound. Didn't like it. Further investigation after the fact revealed that I didn't place it properly as the capsules weren't aimed at either the beater or the reso head. In the future, I'll be trying out the mic properly. For the purposes of my drum session, however, I found it best to save time by flagrantly breaking Epworth commandment #3 and opting for a Beyer Opus 65 dynamic mic. After trying it inside the kick, I placed it against the reso head and got the sound I was after.
Beyer Opus 65 on kick
As far as commandments 1 and 2, we made sure to tune the kit to our liking. Instinctively, George was already on it before I even said anything, because he's a pro like that. He had the snare all tuned up like he normally would when I asked him if we could go deeper and warmer. He tried that, then suggested we look at another snare altogether. So we traded out the DW brass for a deep maple snare. It definitely did the trick. We tuned it nice and low and I thought it sounded great, especially through the ribbon overheads.
Meticulously tuning and auditioning snares
Here is a sample of the final product, largely unmixed:
My old professor and mentor Ron Simpson used to ubiquitously use the phrase, "It starts with a song." Likewise, the first step in the process of creating my Epworthian track required the creation of a song. Initially, I had planned (and put forth in my proposal) to write a song together with an artist and use that as the basis of my track.
This, however, created a problem. As an American recently arrived in the UK, I'm still getting my bearings and developing my local network of collaborators and musicians and not all collaborative writing sessions are created equal. I found an artist to work with but our schedules did not easily align and our writing styles did not quickly yield anything ready to use.
I came to the conclusion that, to move forward with the project, it would be easier to use a song I had written previously, and have the artist sing it for me. This decision allowed me to focus on the recording and production aspect of the project without getting hung up on writing.
Here is my "Epworth Production Bible" from my proposal, reiterated here for easy referencing.
EQ at the source. "I never EQ to tape. I like the fact that you can really EQ a drum by pushing and pulling a mic in or out [to use proximity effect]. I always try to make sure the sound's right on the mics, meticulously checking phasing.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Tune drums with precision. “I try not to gaffer‑tape drums at all, but I spend hours meticulously tuning them.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
No dynamic mics on drums. "I don't ever use dynamic mics on a drum kit if I can help it: it'll either be ribbons or condensers.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Record your own samples where possible. When recording “Rolling in the Deep” with Adele, Epworth had her stomp on a wooden step he had lying around the studio. (Gallant 2012) “It’s very easy to go, ‘let’s find a sample of that,’ and it’s just as easy to record it. And ultimately you end up with a bit of noise on it that gives something feeling.” (Epworth quoted in Wilson 2011)
Track as many elements together as possible. "I'm a real sucker for getting a really good live take. Even if you replace everything, I'll still always work to get that live take that's really exciting.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Get the vocal right. "I find that when you're recording a vocal, you have to think about how you want the vocalist's voice to sit in the track. If you're doing a rock tune and you've got the singer right against the microphone, you're going to have to work really hard with EQ to try and make it sound like it sits in the track…With a rock singer, it's better to record them an arm's length away so that it seems to sit on that scale in the track.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Leave bass for last. "I always like to do bass last, because it's much easier to tell what's missing sonically within the track, and make sure it's in tune. I like the bass loud, and it's much easier to make sure it's right after you've got the guitars on and those are all in place.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Tape saturation. Epworth is fond of using subtle overdrive on almost all elements in a track. “That’s what tape does, isn't it? Even if you're recording to tape just as a format, it adds even‑order distortion to it, and I've managed to start getting a similar effect to tape using…distortion plug‑ins, using the tone as a bias, almost.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Get help with the final mix. “I usually pass the task of creating final mixes off to other people because by that point, I can’t see a whiff of the trees.” (Epworth quoted in Gallant 2012) Because mixing is an area I wish to improve on, I won’t be completely abandoning the final mix to another engineer, but I will seek others’ ears in getting everything sitting just right.
Gallant, M. (2012) Producer of the Year Paul Epworth on Adele, Cee Lo, Foster the People. Universal Audio [Online blog]. Available from: <http://www.uaudio.com/blog> [Accessed 20 October 2016].
Inglis, S. (2009) Paul Epworth: Producing Almost Everyone. Sound On Sound [Online], January. Available from: < http://www.soundonsound.com> [Accessed 20 October 2016].
Wilson, J. (2011) Paul Epworth on working with Adele and the hit album, 21. BBC [Online], December. Available from: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news> [Accessed 20 October 2016].
This blog chronicles my efforts to complete my research project for my Studio Skills module at Leeds Beckett University. My proposal was presented as follows:
Reflecting on the skills I honed during my undergraduate studies and throughout my career, I have identified some areas in which I excel as well as areas in which I could improve. I have extensive training and experience in the realms of songwriting, arranging, part-writing, and MIDI sequencing. However, I tend to fall short in the use of analog equipment in capturing the best possible sounds inside the studio. Microphone selection and placement, drum tuning, the use of outboard effects, and mixing are all parts of the process where I could benefit from further study and practice.
Paul Epworth
With that in mind, I have to decided to undertake a recording project this semester that emulates the approach and technique of acclaimed producer Paul Epworth. My reasons for selecting Epworth for this project are twofold. First, his signature sound blends acoustic and electronic elements in a way that I seek to employ in my own work. “I feel that my work is one part acoustic recording, one part electronic dance music production, and then the rest of it is basically formed by the artist I’m working with.” (Epworth 2012) Second, his approach is very focused on that raw, emotional element of music that makes it timeless. “That’s what makes a song stand the test of time: Does it have energy and power and momentum and honesty and soul and spirituality and passion? Those are the things that on a base level connect with people.” (BBC)
My first task in this undertaking will be to select an artist—either a band or a solo act—with whom to collaborate. Once this relationship is established, we will enter a pre-production phase of writing, auditioning microphones for the singer’s voice, and workshopping the arrangement of the song. This is something Epworth stresses should be done outside the actual experience of recording. Speaking specifically of auditioning mics, he says, “It works better if it's a totally separate process to actually committing a vocal performance, because it gets them thinking too much. It's like it switches the brain on, when actually you want the brain off and the heart on.” (Inglis 2009)
Once the song is written and the arrangement is feeling good, then the actual process of recording will begin. During this time I intend to deploy techniques described by Epworth in various interviews and articles. These guidelines and practices will constitute my “Production Bible” for the duration of this project and are as follows:
EQ at the source."I never EQ to tape. I like the fact that you can really EQ a drum by pushing and pulling a mic in or out [to use proximity effect]. I always try to make sure the sound's right on the mics, meticulously checking phasing.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Tune drums with precision. “I try not to gaffer‑tape drums at all, but I spend hours meticulously tuning them.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
No dynamic mics on drums. "I don't ever use dynamic mics on a drum kit if I can help it: it'll either be ribbons or condensers.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Record your own samples where possible. When recording “Rolling in the Deep” with Adele, Epworth had her stomp on a wooden step he had lying around the studio. (Gallant 2012) “It’s very easy to go, ‘let’s find a sample of that,’ and it’s just as easy to record it. And ultimately you end up with a bit of noise on it that gives something feeling.” (Epworth quoted in Wilson 2011)
Track as many elements together as possible. "I'm a real sucker for getting a really good live take. Even if you replace everything, I'll still always work to get that live take that's really exciting.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Get the vocal right. "I find that when you're recording a vocal, you have to think about how you want the vocalist's voice to sit in the track. If you're doing a rock tune and you've got the singer right against the microphone, you're going to have to work really hard with EQ to try and make it sound like it sits in the track…With a rock singer, it's better to record them an arm's length away so that it seems to sit on that scale in the track.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Leave bass for last. "I always like to do bass last, because it's much easier to tell what's missing sonically within the track, and make sure it's in tune. I like the bass loud, and it's much easier to make sure it's right after you've got the guitars on and those are all in place.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Tape saturation. Epworth is fond of using subtle overdrive on almost all elements in a track. “That’s what tape does, isn't it? Even if you're recording to tape just as a format, it adds even‑order distortion to it, and I've managed to start getting a similar effect to tape using…distortion plug‑ins, using the tone as a bias, almost.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
Get help with the final mix. “I usually pass the task of creating final mixes off to other people because by that point, I can’t see a whiff of the trees.” (Epworth quoted in Gallant 2012) Because mixing is an area I wish to improve on, I won’t be completely abandoning the final mix to another engineer, but I will seek others’ ears in getting everything sitting just right.
It is my hope that at the conclusion of this project, my replication of Epworth’s methods will have given me a greater ability to capture quality sounds at their source and blend them to create the energy and passion of timeless music. I also hope and expect to develop strong relationships with both the artist and the other musicians and producers involved in the project. As Epworth himself has said, “A good musical collaboration is like a Jackson Pollock of musical paint, where everyone’s throwing ideas at a canvas and some of them stick and some of them don’t, and the final picture you end up with is a combination.” (Quoted in McKinley 2012)
References
Gallant, M. (2012) Producer of the Year Paul Epworth on Adele, Cee Lo, Foster the People. Universal Audio [Online blog]. Available from: <http://www.uaudio.com/blog> [Accessed 20 October 2016].
Inglis, S. (2009) Paul Epworth: Producing Almost Everyone. Sound On Sound [Online], January. Available from: < http://www.soundonsound.com> [Accessed 20 October 2016].
McKinley, J. (2012) Hot Tracks, the Collaborative Method. The New York Times [Online], February, C1. Available from: <http://www.nytimes.com> [Accessed 20 October 2016].
Wilson, J. (2011) Paul Epworth on working with Adele and the hit album, 21. BBC [Online], December. Available from: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news> [Accessed 20 October 2016].
